CNET Article On Email Privacy Was Wrong

November 21st, 2012

Forbes’s Kashmir Hill reports that the CNET article I linked to yesterday, which reported that Senator Patrick Leahy was pushing a bill that would allow government agencies to access email and other online private communications without a warrant, is wrong:

The version of the bill that Declan McCullagh excerpts in his report appears to be one of many that have been drafted and passed around, but is not a version that would be considered seriously at a hearing to review the bill next week.

“Senator Leahy does not support broad carve outs for warrantless searches of email content,” says a Senate Judiciary aide. “He remains committed to upholding privacy laws and updating the outdated Electronic Privacy Communications Act.”

Good news.